Recently A delegation of Muslim clerics led by the Sunni Ulema Council general secretary Haji Mohammed Salees met RSS functionary Indresh Kumar and posed six questions to the Sangh including whether it has prepared a format to turn India into a Hindu rashtra (nation). This 6 six questions were given to media and later there was a huge discussion in mainstream and social media.
Here is a write up by social media expert KIRAN KUMAR S of Bengaluru. We clarify by here that this is NOT the official response from RSS. “I can answer all six of questions in brief. This has been asked many times to me before. I have answered in person to many Muslims who asked some of these. However my answers are in the individual capacity as a Hindu” clarified writer KIRAN KUMAR S.
-Rajesh Padmar, Editor, WWW.SAMVADA.ORG Feb 20, 2015
1) Does RSS consider India a Hindu country?
Yes. Hindu for RSS is someone who is from Hindu or Dharmic civilization.
2) Has RSS prepared a format to turn India into a Hindu rashtra?
No need to turn. India is just a name derived from European source “Ind”, which is in turn derived from “Hind” as referred by the western Asia. Everything goes back to the core word Hindu. For instance, even today, the word for “Indian” in Turkey is Hint. In Armenia it is Hndkakan. In China is Yindu. None of them had any RSS shakha as far as I know!
3) Will the Hindu rashtra be according to Hindu religious texts or has RSS chalked out a new philosophy?
First of all Hinduism is not a religion as per the Abrahamic traditional view. It is a continuous civilization ethos with Dharma being the center of the ideology. Since Bharat as RSS terms is already a Hindu rashtra, there is no new philosophy necessary. Hindutva is just a Sanskrit word like Bhratrutva and Maatrutva. Adding “tva” to the civilizational Hindu identity makes all of us a part of Hindutva. All RSS asks is those eating, drinking and breathing air of this civilizational land mass, to have their first respect for this land. This land has always allowed people to worship in any way they want. But if someone has the primary allegiance to a foreign power center, and not India, then that’s a problem. One can change the mode of worship as it has always been allowed for 1000s of years in India, but can’t change the ancestors. Be proud of your civilizational continuity.
4) What does the RSS want on religious conversion?
Hindutva philosophy is all encompassing. All it is doing is to make people aware of the fact that anyone with core (and most of the cases, only) allegiance to foreign power centers like Vatican or Makkah, can’t be 100% true Indian or Bharatiya. It is asking people to be proud of their land of birth, the rivers that feed them, the cultural history of their ancestors and so on.
5) What type of rashtra prem (patriotism) RSS wants from Muslims?
The same thing it wants from anyone else who is living in India. India first. Rest (like Vatican or Makkah) secondary.
6) How does RSS view Islam?
I view Islam as a complete political, religious, linguistic, military and cultural doctrine that is a new form of colonization of Arab nationalism. Just looking at how every Muslim names the children in Arabic only, highlights the linguistic part. With such practice, the native Telugu, Kannada, Avadhi, Marathi, Sanskrit and other names have been completely wiped out among Indian subcontinent Muslims. Once the names are wiped out, the rest of the native culture are easier to discard, breaking the Dharmic civilizational continuity.
DISCLAIMER: This is NOT the official response from RSS. The view expressed here are by the author.